This invention relates in general to over-the-top (OTT) media delivery and more specifically to providing differentiated service to independent OTT video streaming clients.
Near-real-time delivery protocols are popular for OTT video delivery due to their simplicity, their ability to adapt to varying network conditions through the use of rate adaptation, and the low cost of deployment using commodity HTTP delivery infrastructures. OTT video delivery typically relies on content delivery networks (CDNs) optimized for large scale deployment of generic data files, via HTTP, to large numbers of clients across multiple geographic regions. Unlike the closed-circuit nature of broadcast television, which requires access to a private multiple service operator (MSO) network, using an MSO provided and provisioned client device, e.g., a leased set-top-box (STB), which relies on customized delivery and encryption protocols to maintain control over content delivery, OTT delivered content is accessible to any network connected device which supports the ubiquitous HTTP protocol. Content is made available through CDNs, though playback may be restricted using digital rights management (DRM) which may require authentication to acquire content encryption information.
Service providers and network operators rely on closed networks and operator controlled devices to be able to manage bandwidth and enforce service differentiation by explicitly controlling each client in the network. The use of commoditized CDN infrastructures, which provide free access to content by clients, inhibits the ability of service providers and network operators to control client bandwidth usage. Independent OTT client implementations tend to be greedy in nature which can prevent fair access to network resources between clients, and limits the methods available for supporting differentiated service enforcement. The ability to provide differentiated services is an important factor in the monetization of content delivery. Alternate methods are needed to efficiently enforce class of service differentiation in OTT video delivery.